2022 Annual Meeting of Members

The presentation slides with notes from the 2022 Annual Meeting of Members can be found here (4.8MB PDF).

Q4 2021 / Year End Update

As we close out 2021 and enter 2022, I want to share updates on a few things of interest to Members.

As a reminder, Association dues for the first half of 2022 were due on Jan. 1. The amount is unchanged from last year at $263. Late fees and interest will begin to accrue if not received by the end of the month and continue for each month thereafter until the balance is paid in full. Payment plans are available for Members having financial trouble due to job loss, health issues, etc. Getting on a payment plan will stop fees related to collection attempts so please do communicate with us early if you are having difficulty keeping current on assessments.

The first board meeting of 2022 is Monday, January 17 at 6:30pm. Notices will be going out via e-mail so keep an eye out for the details if you wish to join. For convenience, the Board has decided to continue virtual Board meetings via Zoom for the foreseeable future. There is an open forum for Members to address the Board publicly at the start of each meeting. Of course, we are also available by e-mail at board@canyoncreek.net if you prefer a less formal method for communicating with us.

The Annual Meeting of Members is tentatively planned as an in-person meeting and will be held at 6:30PM on March 7, 2022 at Peace Lutheran Church just north of Boulder Lane on 620. The venue may require attendees to mask up depending on the Austin-Travis County Public Health’s Covid-19 Risk Based Guidance at the time of the meeting. This information will be communicated to all Members prior to the meeting.

The annual audit of the Association’s books and records for 2020 was completed in Q4 under the direction of a new accounting firm and has resulted in a “Qualified Opinion” related to cash and liabilities associated with amenity key card deposits collected under the prior management company. Prior to Spectrum Management, amenity key cards were issued to Members on a cash deposit basis. Key cards could be turned in and the deposit reclaimed, usually upon sale of a home, but often cards were simply left behind for the new owner. Occasionally, key cards would be lost, rendering the deposit unrecoverable. Properly accounting for these events requires detailed recordkeeping. Unfortunately, the records that transitioned to Spectrum from prior management are incomplete so we are unable to accurately tie the amenity key card cash deposit balance to an accurate list of redeemable amenity key cards. To clear this up and move forward with an “Unqualified Opinion” in the future, the Board has decided that any Member in possession of a working amenity key card that was NOT issued by Spectrum Management may turn in their card prior to April 15, 2022 and reclaim their $20 deposit. After this date, any outstanding key card deposits will become the property of the Association, legacy key cards will be ineligible for return and become the property of the holder in accordance with the current amenity key card request policy. If a legacy key card is redeemed and a new card is subsequently requested, Members will need to follow the then current procedures for purchasing a new amenity key card. If you are already in possession of a working key card and wish to keep it, then no action is required on your part. Your card will be reclassified as a “sale” to you and become your property in accordance with the current keycard request process. If you wish to redeem an eligible key card and reclaim your deposit, e-mail Spectrum Management at contact@spectrumam.com with your request and address and our community manager will be in contact.

At the November meeting of the Board, we decided to make the covered patio available for reservation by Members during the winter off-season when the pool is otherwise closed for swimming. Use of this space is offered strictly on an “At Your Own Risk” basis so we are not requiring the presence of a pool monitor or lifeguard. Some operational details will need to be worked out as we gain experience over time with the types of events that Members are interested in holding. For example, a large party gathering may require posting a modest cleanup deposit that is fully or partially refundable depending on the condition the space is left in. Other types of events such as a small book club gathering may require no deposit at all. We’ll be working these types of details out in real time and they may be adjusted as needed so we do ask for patience and cooperation.

In December of last year, the Board made a change to our landscaping contractor for performance reasons. Our new contractor is Urban Dirt, a locally owned firm, with a number of very large contracts including Steiner Ranch, going back many years. With the completion of the pool renovation and repairs this past summer, we’ve now wrapped up the last of the major outstanding capital maintenance items from the last several years which frees up cash for some long planned investments in our landscaping. We have plans to refresh major portions of our landscaping with a more modern look and feel that incorporates clump grasses and other native and drought tolerant plants and annual and perennial color where appropriate while better managing our water usage. We have been working with this vendor for several months on preliminary design plans for this project and are looking forward to getting started in the coming weeks. This is a large effort that will take several years to fully realize.

In regards to landscaping compliance with your own home, the Board is aware that some Members feel they are being held to a higher standard than the Association is holding itself with respect to its Common Area landscaping and, in some respects, that is true. However, the Association is fiscally constrained in its ability to fund upwards of five linear miles of improvements along both sides of Boulder Lane and within the Amenity Areas. For this reason, it is all the more important that Members put in a little extra effort to help us keep the neighborhood as a whole looking its best as we get our Common Areas back to looking their best. To get Members excited and incentivized about landscaping compliance, we are launching this year a “Yard of the Month” competition. Each month in 2022, we’ll choose one property in Canyon Creek that represents the highest standards of landscape care and keeping as determined by a majority of the Board. That homeowner will be awarded a $50 gift card to Lowe’s for their efforts (and may not repeat within a 12 month period). Since we are looking to these homes as models for the rest of us, we ask that winners agree to let us share your address and a few photos with the rest of the Members.

With the Marshall fire in Colorado in the news recently, the subject of wildfire risk is on the minds of the Board and many residents. This fast moving, wind-driven fire in the Denver area consumed 6,000 acres and destroyed aver 1,000 homes in just a few hours. We often encounter similar conditions here in our area so our risk is high for this type of event occurring. The HOA has previously organized greenbelt cleanup and wildfire fuel reduction efforts in focused areas behind homes bordering the canyonlands but was forced to take a break due to COVID safety protocols. We would like to resume these efforts if possible this year but it is clear that we need much greater volunteer organization and participation going forward if this effort is to have a meaningful impact. If we have any residents in the community that feel called to service and are willing to help organize and lead a more structured effort to reduce wildfire risk in the community, the members of the Board would like to talk with you. This role will work closely with the Board, county and city officials and groups of residents to organize resources and coordinate risk mitigation efforts. If this opportunity to make a direct impact on your community sounds interesting, do reach out to us.

Finally, on the subject of community service, it’s time for Girl Scout cookies and we have multiple Scout troops in Canyon Creek who are ready to supply your cookie needs. If one of these adorable Scouts happens to pay you a visit, please do consider a cookie purchase to support her mission of leadership through kindness, service to her community, and development of lasting friendships. Canyon Creek HOA is a volunteer led organization and these are important values to cultivate in this next generation of leaders and community servants.

In closing, have a happy new year; let’s hope 2022 is better than 2021 and thanks for the trust you put in us. On behalf of the Board,

Brett Funderburg
President, CCHOA

Q3 2021 Update

As we close the 3rd quarter of 2021, I want to share status updates on a few things the board is working on. Many of you have no doubt noticed along Boulder Lane that we have begun the process of pruning and removing trees affected by the severe winter storms. The board has been working with an independent arborist in recent months to observe how trees in the common areas were recovering and to make recommendations to us on how to proceed with those that were distressed. It is upsetting that so many of our trees were affected especially since they are a key feature of our neighborhood that is not easily replaced. There were a few instances where trees were on the borderline between leave in and prune or take out. In deciding how to proceed with these, the board considered the overall aesthetics of each area giving consideration to spacing, future landscaping plans for the area and how the aesthetics would progress over the near and long term. In the coming days and weeks as this work is proceeding, you’ll start to see stumps being ground and this part of the recovery finishing up and then we’ll slowly begin the process of restoration.

At this time, we’re asking residents who have not already done so to begin clean up or removal of trees on their own property that have suffered weather damage. Our community inspector is now including tree inspections as part of his regular inspections and notices are being sent out. To help Members make informed decisions about how to proceed with trees on their own property, I’m including a link to information we’ve previously shared here, as well as including the arborist report for the trees in the common area. Most folks should find the arborist report very helpful in assessing their own trees since it includes many photographs and descriptions of common area trees with the recommended course of action. It is likely that you will find similarities to your own trees and can use this information to help guide you in your decision making and to understand the expectations in case you receive a notice from our community inspector.

The board meeting to approve the annual budget took place on Sep 22 at 6:30pm. The 2022 approved budget can be viewed here. The regular annual assessment will remain at $526 for 2022, payable in two installments due Jan 1 and July 1. In the operating budget, we allocated increases for regular concrete fence maintenance and tree trimming in the 5 year outlook. In general though, aside from normal increases in contract renewals, etc. the operating budget tends not to vary much from year to year. Major capital expenses, timings and target reserve balances are primarily driven by the triennial reserve study which is refreshed every 3 years with another due in 2022. With the major renovations and repairs to the pool bathhouse and pool now complete, we are turning our attention to the common area landscaping and expect to make a number of small to mid-sized investments in the capital expense budget to refresh and restore landscaping up and down Boulder Lane next year. In addition, we have a nice upgrade to the landscaping at the south entrance median happening next year as well with regular maintenance planned going forward. If all of our numbers and projections are correct, we should end 2022 with about $50,000 in excess of our most recent reserve study’s target reserve balance. This will put us on a nice footing heading into 2023 where we can begin to consider possibilities for new capital improvements as opposed to catching up on maintenance and repairs that were neglected in years prior.

As always, send questions or concerns to board@canyoncreek.net.

Best,

Brett Funderburg
President, CCHOA